Into Mal'Habara
by Wykett
Summary: My take on what Lightning, Fang encountered while venturing into Mal'Habara. Kinda a behind the scenes thing.The group is overwhelmed by enemies and Lightning and Fang are separated from the group. Enjoy! Rated T for language/violence. Completed!
1. Chapter 1

_Just a little something I had in my head and decided to write down. After reading some FF13/Light/Fang fics I figured I'd try my hand at it ^^. I'm a bit rusty after not having written anything in a while, so I'm sure this may go through some edits in the future. There is much more to this story that has yet to be written, hopefully I'll chuck it out soon. But I hope you guys enjoy this bit of it ^^_

_Some disclaimers: I do not own Final Fantasy 13 nor any of the characters associated with it. It is property of the lovely Square Enix!_

_Enjoy!_

"I kinda like places like this." Fang commented thoughtfully at the group's new surroundings. The troupe of l'cie just reached Mal' Habara a short while ago. The dark, closed in atmosphere, paired with the stagnant ancient air and metal scraps were a stark contrast to the lush, open space of the Steppes they had previously traversed.

"Cozy." Lightning replied in her usual dry tone while nudging a rusting piece of ancient metal with her boot.

Fang grinned at Lightning's attempt at a light humored reply. The hunter planted her hands on her hips and gazed at the machinery and metal strewn about the rocky tunnel with an excited twinkle in her eyes. She countered in a somewhat corny fashion. "Places like these just scream adventure. Just asking for someone to explore and conquer its mysteries!"

"Yeah well, we got enough adventure as is with all this l'cie stuff. I'm perfectly happy with moving through here with as little adventure as possible." Sazh said as the group began to move again.

Vanille giggled. "Fang's always loved finding places like this, even before we were crystal."

"Fang. Master hunter and fierce warrior…turned explorer. Interesting." Lightning quirked an eyebrow at Fang.

"What can I say? I have many talents." The hunter matched her pace with the soldier's so that they were walking side by side. She grinned slyly. "But master hunter? Fierce warrior? Was that a compliment Sunshine?"

Lightning rolled her eyes and shook her head. Fang excelled at thwarting Lightning's sarcastic comments with her witty charm and teasing her with that stupid nickname.

"As long as there aren't any giant turtles trying to squash me, I don't care where we are." Snow spoke up.

Everything on Gran Pulse was either far more ferocious or larger than anything found on Cocoon. Apparently turtles were not exempt from that. The group had encountered a couple of what Fang and Vanille referred to as Adamantoise during their trek across the Steppe. While they did well avoiding them most of the time there were some misses. Mostly due to Snow's own stupidity.

What they found were bountiful within the tunnels were ancient excavation machines that were somehow still operational. Most were dispatched without much trouble, aside from a couple larger machines. Fortunately they only encountered small groups or the occasional solitary Pulsian excavator. Hoplites and Phalanxes, Lightning recalled Fang calling them. They were all in agreement that if they encountered any larger quantity they'd be in trouble.

The caverns were quiet aside from footfalls on rusting metal and air howling through the tunnels. The area did have its own mysterious charm, Lightning could see why Fang took a liking to such places. However, her soldier instincts kept her from enjoying it in the way that the brunette did. Fang was skilled and observant as she was, but she also had an adventurer's spirit. Lightning on the other hand was far more cool and calculated. She didn't take risks for the sake of fun. That was something she always admired about Fang. The soldier smiled at the thought. Lightning looked ahead to Fang walking in front of her, taking in her surroundings with a glint in her eyes. The hunter's hips swaying to her ever so casual saunter, it was another thing Lightning had become to admire.

Fang turned to see the usual scowl on Lightning's face replaced with a soft smile. She smirked mischievously. "What's got'cha smiling Sunshine?"

The smile quickly vanished and was replaced by a momentary expression of annoyance at the nickname. "Nothing."

"Aw, c'mon. I've never known anyone to smile at nothing!" Fang enjoyed teasing the soldier. She fascinated her, and each time she prodded and pried at the tightly wound woman she found out a little more. She had hardly seen the woman smile, so she was quite curious as to what it was that had allowed one to escape her usually stoic façade.

"Just thinking." Lightning said simply.

"About what? You gotta give me a little more than that, love!"

This was another game Lightning found that Fang liked to play with her. Poking and prodding at anything the soldier did that was out of character for what the group of l'cie have come to know. At first Lightning was annoyed at her attempts to draw her out of her shell and obtain more information, but now she found it equally as amusing to make Fang work harder at it or keep her guessing.

She eyed Fang and smirked. "Maybe I'll tell you later. _Maybe."_

"Just gonna leave me hanging? I see how it i-"

Fang was cut short at the sound of rusted steel shutters springing open on either side of the group. Out came at least a dozen Hoplites, and two Phalanxes. Their earlier concern had now become a reality.

"Well, this isn't good." Fang finished.

"Run!" Lightning yelled and drew her gunblade. She took the head off of a nearby Hoplite and started after the rest of the group.

Fang drew her lance and speared one of the machine's clean through its chest and then ducked as a deadly metal arm swung at her head. Spells and bullets whizzed by as the group ran frantically through the tunnel, searching for any escape from the onslaught of excavators. She and Lightning held the rear, trying to keep back any machines rushing ahead.

They ran out of the tunnel and into an open cavern with a large bridge traversing to the other side. Lightning and Fang stopped at the entrance of the cavern and turned to face the excavators. They shared a glance, both acknowledging what they had to do.

"Snow! Get everyone across the bridge now!" Lightning yelled, never taking her eyes from the small army ancient mining machines inching forward with her gunblade poised and ready.

"Got it!" Snow hollered back. Footfalls clattered loudly on the metal as they ran to safety.

The two women backed away slowly, funneling the machines onto the bridge and driving them back to give the others a chance to get to safety. Their weapons danced through the air as they whittled them down little by little. However, more and more made their way onto the bridge. It creaked and groaned with the strain of the weight and its own age. The rusted support beams were starting to give way.

Fang drove her spear through the head of one of the hostile Hoplites, metal crunched and sparks flew as she removed her weapon. "Light! I think it's time we hightail it outa here!"

Lightning was in the midst of ducking away from one of the machines hefty swinging arms. She continued the motion and spun around, her gunblade slashing through the metal of the thing's legs. As it fell forward she lopped its head off with a quick flick of her blade.

"Let's go!" she called back to Fang before they both started sprinting to the other side.

They weren't halfway across before Vanille called out with a look of fear that was matched by the rest of the group.

"Look out!" Vanille yelled, pointing at something over their heads.

Lightning and Fang skidded to a halt and spun around to look at what the young Pulsian was pointing at. A huge construct that Lightning hadn't seen since moving through the Vile Peaks on Cocoon had leapt off a platform above. Their eyes widened in horror as the realization set in that it would land directly onto the bridge.

"Shit! Go go go!" Fang grabbed Lightning's arm and they began bolting to the end of the bridge.

The fear stricken faces of their companions were getting closer up until the sound of the large crash behind them. Suddenly the bridge gave way under them and their feet met empty air. They reached out for anything to grab onto but were only met with falling bits of metal. The women plummeted into the dark, unknown depths of the cavern below.

Fang groaned as she came to. She lifted her head off the ground to take a quick glance at her surroundings. It was dark, there was barely enough light to see more than a few feet ahead. There were scraps of twisted metal and debris littering the ground from the fall and it appeared she was lying in a puddle and dampened soil. The huntress started to push herself up into a sitting position but was stopped by a sharp stab of pain in her abdomen. Fang hissed slightly and looked down to inspect the cause of the pain. Pinning her sari to her skin was a rusted, jagged piece of metal embedded into her stomach. Grimacing, Fang pulled it free and pressed her hand against the wound. She stood slowly to get a better view of the area.

She was in another tunnel, not unlike the ones they had been in before. Looking up she could see nothing but darkness, there was no sign of where they had fallen, only that they fell far and somehow survived. With that thought Fang frantically began to look around.

_'Sunshine, please be here…and alive.' _She thought as she scrambled over chunks of metal and searching underneath for the missing soldier.

After a few moments of frantic searching she found her. Lightning lay unmoving with a large piece of steel grating on top of her. Fang rushed over and threw the metal scrap off. She grabbed her shoulder and gently rolled her onto her back. Blood seeped from a small wound just above her right eye.

"Light! Wake up!" Fang shook her lightly and softly tapped her cheek.

Lightning stirred with a groan. Something was touching her face and she was being shaken. She opened her eyes at the sound of her name only to be greeted by the sight of Fang hovering over her.

"We're alive?" she mumbled.

"It looks that way. How are you feeling?"

"I've had better days, but I'll manage." She got to her feet with the help of Fang to steady her until she was able to shake off her hazy mind.

"Looks like you took quite a bump on the head there, Sunshine." Fang reached forward with a hand and brushed the pink locks out of the way to inspect.

"Yeah, just what I needed…a head wound at the bottom of some pit with crazed machines running about…"Lightning grunted in response. She was trying hard to not let herself get too terribly flushed with Fang so close, touching her face. It was not easy to push back thoughts of feeling Fang's fingers brushing against her skin, the warmth radiating from her body, or at how within reach her lips were.

"I do believe you're the only person I've met who seems genuinely annoyed at the fact that they've gotten a bump on the noggin'." Fang laughed.

Lightning rolled her eyes and backed away, pressing a gloved hand against her head. The wound wasn't serious, but at least the pressure would help stop it from bleeding into her eyes. She focused her attention to the area they had fallen, not only to distract herself but to try and get them both out.

From what she could tell from the very dim lightning, they were in the middle of a large cavernous tunnel. One end was blocked by a mountain of fallen debris. There was definitely no way they could pass through there, and they surely could not climb up from where they had fallen. The soldier looked to the only obvious way to go, where the tunnel continued into darkness.

"I guess we go this way for now." Lightning said and started down the tunnel, Fang shortly joining her by her side.

_Woo! An update! _

_I really didn't want to add another chapter for this especially since it wasn't much, and I honestly intended for this to be a one chapter story. _

_So there yall go! Enjoy and hopefully I'll have more up shortly._

_And thank you all to who have been faving this and leaving reviews! I really appreciate it! 3_


	2. Chapter 2

_Part 2 of what I intended to be a single chapter thiinnngg. But what the hay! This works._

_Again, All characters belong to Square Enix. I do not own Final Fantasy 13, etc._

_Enjoy!_

After several moments of walking the women's eyes had adjusted to the lack of light. No longer were they walking at a carefully slow pace, or stubbing toes on unseen objects as Fang had done a couple times early on.

"So, do you still like these kind of places?" Lightning said humorously.

"Yeah, well...Wait! Did you just crack a joke? Did Sunshine, the Scowl Queen, make a joke?" Fang was taken back, but she still took the time to tease her favorite person to tease.

"What? Am I not allowed to joke here and there?" Lightning quirked an eyebrow. "Scowl Queen? One of your nicknames is already enough."

"Of course you're allowed to joke! Between you and me I think you should more, it brings out that nice smile of yours." Fang grinned and draped an arm over Lightning's shoulders. "One is enough eh? Does that mean I get to keep _Sunshine_?"

Lightning shook her head at Fang's carefree attitude. Her arm felt warm, almost too warm. Though it was fairly cool in the cavern so she could just be very well sensitive to any sort of heat source. "I suppose so, it's not like I can stop you from using that name"

"Excellent!" The hunter withdrew her arm. "But yes, I still do like these places. While the circumstances aren't so good, it's nice to be here with you and away from the group."

"Well I'm glad I'm not raining on your parade. I wonder if they are alright…" Lightning said thoughtfully at the mention of the rest of the l'cie.

"I'm sure they're just fine. Vanille is probably leading them to the Springs as we speak. So don't worry your pretty little pink head!"

Lightning shook her head. "Hopefully we can find a way out of here and reach the Springs."

As time went by the cavern began to shrink and narrow. Neither had no idea how long they had been walking. Soon the two women had to resort to walking single file and at a crouch in order to fit. Both hoped this wasn't a sign of a dead end. But before that dreaded thought of being trapped in the dark, damp underground, Lightning noticed a faint light ahead. She squinted at the light as they trudged through the tight space. Were her eyes playing tricks on her? No. It was definitely coming from a light source.

_'Could it be from one of those overhead mining lamps? Maybe we've found our way back to one of the main tunnels._' Lightning thought. _'Hmm, no. It's too…natural. Could it be…?'_

The soldier quickened her pace both in anticipation and curiosity as to where the light source was emanating from. She soon found herself a few feet away from a hole in the wall where the light was pouring out. Lightning stepped up to it and found herself to be looking out to a beautiful water filled cavern. There were various grass and glowing moss covered rock ledges and platforms jutting out from the water and the sides of the walls. Up above there were large openings to where she could see numerous small waterfalls raining down water in a gentle mist. Glimpses of the Pulsian surface could be seen, as well as Cocoon hovering above.

Lightning smiled a smile of relief. Finally, they were out! She turned back to the tunnel to tell Fang the good news.

"Fang, I think we just made it to this Sulyya Spring of yours!"

When she received no answer, Lightning cautiously stepped back into the dark, reaching back to place a hand on her weapon. Had something followed them? She heard no sounds of battle, but something was definitely wrong.

"Fang?" Lightning called out again.

"I'm here." Fang called back. Lightning couldn't help but notice that she had a tired and pained tone to her voice.

She found the huntress leaning heavily against the wall with one arm clutching her side.

When Lightning had quickened her pace to investigate the light source, Fang found herself unable to keep up and was soon leaning up against the cool, earth wall. She had not realized how tired she had grown from their trek underground. She was feverish and the wound from where she had yanked the metal scrap from her belly throbbed. Soon enough the soldier was calling for her and found her in her current position.

Lightning rushed to her side. Fang knew all too well that the she sensed something was wrong.

"Are you alright?" Lightning asked, her hand was still on her gunblade. Her brilliant blue eyes scanned the darkness for any threats.

"I'm fine." Fang put on her best 'Don't worry about it!' grin and pushed off the wall, only to find herself stumbling forward.

Lightning's strong arms and her namesake's reflexes caught her and held her steady. The huntress could feel the soldier scrutinizing her over. Fang's skin was clammy to the touch, her face had gone pale and dark circles had appeared under her previously lively green eyes.

"You're not fine." Lightning's eyes narrowed and followed Fang's arm to where she was still clutching the side of her stomach.

Fang's head spun even wilder than it was when she felt Lightning's fingers graze the soft, taunt skin of her stomach and move beneath her sari. How nice it would be to feel those hands explore the rest of her body. The Pulsian was jerked out of further pleasant thoughts as Lightning's fingers brushed against her wound.

Lightning moved the fabric of Fang's sari to the side so that she could better view the injury she had felt beneath. It was a relatively deep puncture wound, swollen and red around the edges. From the look of it, it had to be extremely tender to the touch.

"You have an infection…Come on, we need to get this treated." The soldier spoke in a cool and calm tone. She took Fang's arm and draped it over her shoulders and began to lead her back out to the Springs. Fang was all too happy to oblige and leaned against lightning as support.

_Holy jebus an update! Fang is sick! Oh noes D:_

_Figured I'd start dividing this into chapters. The next bit may be added onto this chapter, it all really depends on how long it is when I write it out. But until then, I hope you guys enjoy this!_

_Thank you all again for the favs and reviews!_

_**2-22-2012 Update note: Hey guys! I know it's been a while since this has been updated, I just wanted to let everyone know who is following the story that I have not forgotten about it! Thing have been quite hectic lately with the holidays and I just recently moved to a new place, so I have not had the chance to work on the next bit as much as I would have liked. Some of the next portion has been written, but it may be rewritten.**_

**_I also want to thank all of you who have been fav'ing and reviewing despite the delay ^^ I hope that this doesn't pop up as a story update O.o...I would feel horrible if it did to those who are looking forward to the next chapter. So I apologize if that happens!_**


	3. Chapter 3

_The final chapter (Finally!)_

_Once again, I do not own FF13 or have any affiliation with Square Enix._

The pair exited the wall and entered the Springs. Lightning scanned the area, looking for the best place to hunker down and tend to the injured and ill Fang. She led them to where there was an area where they could make a short climb down onto one of the rocky islands jutting up out of the Springs. It allowed for easy access to the water and was large enough to comfortably camp without either of them having to worry about rolling over the edge. Lightning slowly began her descent and carefully helped Fang down, tightly holding on to the wounded woman to keep her steady.

Once they were on safe and level ground, Lightning led Fang over to the wall and eased her to the ground. Fang leaned back into the wall with a heavy sigh of relief and closed her eyes. She felt like crap, to put it lightly. In the much improved lighting in the area, Lightning could tell that Fang looked just as she felt. Lightning removed the red pack she had strapped around her thigh and emptied its contents. She stood with a tin cup and a cloth in hand, and walked to the water's edge. She moved as if she were on a mission, cool, quick and precise. The soldier returned to Fang's side and knelt down, offering the now full tin cup of water to the Pulsian.

"Here, drink this."

Fang accepted the cup and brought it to her lips. The cool, fresh, water felt absolutely refreshing as it passed through her dry lips and down her throat. She drained the cup in one sitting and set it down with a content sigh.

"Thank you." The huntress said as she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the chills that began to creep through her body.

With the wet cloth in hand, Lightning moved Fang's sari aside to expose the wound. She gently dabbed the wound, cleansing it from any dirt and grime. The soldier focused on her task and tried to not let her mind stray. She pushed away thoughts of how toned the muscles of Fang's belly were, or how soft her skin was as her fingers grazed the flesh. As pleasant as they were, such thoughts were of no help to either of them right now. She needed to remain focused on the task at hand, and not think about how delightful it would be to run her fingers and lips across the taut skin.

'_Wait, what? Focus Lightning! Get a hold of yourself! Now is not the time!' _She shook her head and cleared her throat.

"So, why didn't you say anything about this?" Lightning said as she continued cleaning the wound, hoping that simple conversation would prove to be a much needed distraction to keep her mind from wondering elsewhere.

Fang gave a light shrug in response. "Didn't think much of it. I guess I kinda forgot about it once I was digging you out of the rubble."

"You still should have said something when you started to feel sick. It was reckless not to." Lightning set the wet cloth aside and started to rummage through her medical kit.

"Oh? Like you not saying anything about that headache you've got there?" Fang quipped.

Lightning paused and looked at Fang. "What?"

"It's not hard to know when you have a headache, Sunshine. At least to me anyway. Your face gets all scrunched up more than usual when you have one." Fang grinned.

Lightning was no stranger to working through headaches. Her training had taught her to push through pain and fatigue to get the job done. It was true that her head still throbbed from her head wound, but she did not think it was noticeable to others. Or was it just noticed by Fang? She was surprised to hear that she even paid that much attention.

"It's not the same, Fang. I wasn't the one that needed to be practically carried." She grabbed an antiseptic and a small square gauze pad. "And I do not scrunch up my face…or whatever."

"Fair enough." The brunette chuckled and winced as the stinging antiseptic was applied to her wound.

"Sorry, I'll try to be quick." Lightning glanced apologetically up at Fang while she cleansed the wound with the antiseptic.

Fang was usually able to take paint rather well, but this instance was particularly painful. She wasn't sure if it was due to how utterly drained she was, or if it Lightning was better at inflicting wounds than treating them. Whatever the case, Fang bit down on her lip and did her best to suck it up. When she could not take anymore, Fang took Lightning's hand in her own, effectively halting the soldier.

Fang breathed out in relief as the stinging and throbbing began to ebb away. "Let's stop for a moment, yeah?"

Lightning nodded. "Okay, take as much time as you need." To much of their surprise, Lightning did not pull her hand away from Fang's.

The huntress smiled to herself, pleased that all it took was an impromptu detour and an injury to make the soldier finally comfortable. While she wouldn't look at her at the moment for long without looking sheepish, Fang gladly took what she could get.

After a few moments of silence, most of which was awkward for Lightning as she struggled to keep her thoughts appropriate, Fang tilted her head to look at Lightning. "Hey, Light?"

"Hmm?" Lightning shifted her eyes to meet Fang's.

"What would you be doing right now back on Cocoon? You know, if none of this mess never happened?" Fang asked.

Her expression went thoughtful for a brief moment before answering. "Sadly, probably working. I was always way too wrapped up in my job then. I had to make sure Serah was taken care of no matter what. Never had time or bothered to make time for much else."

"Hmm. What if you weren't working? Anything you liked to do when you did manage to find the time for it?"

"I liked to read. That was one thing I enjoyed to do if I had the time." Lightning's lips curled into a small smile as she reminisced. "Sometimes when I came home from work I'd grab a beer and sit down and read a bit to relax and unwind."

"Reading eh? What kind of books do you like? I bet some of those hot and steamy romances, huh?" Fang suggestively raised an eyebrow and gave a tired smirk.

Lightning shook her head but she couldn't help but laugh softly at the teasing remark. "No, those are too mushy for my liking. I read a lot of crime-mystery novels."

"Crime-mystery, eh? Nice. We never had many books back in Oerba aside from texts. On occasion we'd get something interesting from one of the bigger cities." Fang said, and then added with a playful smirk. "But I bet you got some sexy romance books hidden somewhere."

Lightning rolled her eyes and slipped her hand out from under Fang's, instantly missing the contact. She turned away and retrieved bandages and wraps from her kit. "I need to finish patching you up. Are you good?"

Fang nodded. "Do your worst Sunshine."

With that, Lightning finished cleaning the wound and gingerly pressed a bandage against it. She leaned forward, her face mere inches from Fang's as she reached her arms around to wrap the bandage secure around her abdomen. She tried to not fumble as she realized how close those lips were to her own, and how gorgeous those green eyes were as they seemingly encouraged her urges. Lightning leaned in even closer, their lips barely a hair's breadth away. She stopped suddenly and pulled away when she noticed the brunette's jaw was quivering. At a second glance, she now saw that the hunter was shivering all over.

"Fang, you're shivering." She reached up and cupped her hand against the Pulsian's cheek, and then her forehead.

Fang hadn't taken much notice until Lightning pointed it out, especially with what had almost transpired. _'Damned infection, just had to go and ruin the moment.'_ She still felt feverish but she was absolutely freezing at the same time. She leaned into Lightning's hand as it traveled along her face, seeking the warmth and comfort.

"Yeah, it's a bit cold…but I think it's just me." She smiled humorously.

Lightning shook her head and stood. "Only you would find something funny about this."

Lighting's nimble began unbuttoning and unbuckling her jacket. Once everything was unfastened she shrugged it off her shoulders, exposing her sleeveless and belly exposing turtleneck that she wore underneath.

Fang's eyes intensely scanned the newly revealed flesh of the soldier. She may have felt like crap, but she sure as hell wasn't about to pass up this opportunity.

"Well, well. If you wanted to strip down in front of me you should have said something. I could have helped you." She smirked and waggled her eyebrows at Lightning.

Lightning rolled her eyes as her cheeks began to flush. "Shut up and try and sit up."

Fang laughed and did her best to sit upright as Lightning knelt down. She felt warmth spread across her back and shoulders as Lightning slipped her jacket onto Fang. It wasn't exactly the best coverage for warmth, but it was better than the sari she wore.

The two took a moment to process Fang wearing Lightning's jacket. She looked absolutely ridiculous in the military issued garb, with the collar flared out and snug against her neck. It was quite the contrast to her sari. Lightning pressed a loose fist to her mouth to stifle a laugh. The huntress peered up at her, sensing the soldier's amusement.

"Are you laughing at me, Sunshine? Are you laughing at poor, sick, defenseless and ridiculous looking Fang's misfortune?"

"No…no, of course not." Lightning composed herself. "But you do look ridiculous."

"I feel ridiculous." Fang started to slump back against the wall.

"Wait." Lightning placed a hand on her shoulder to halt her.

Fang blinked in confusion at her as she hugged the jacket closer to her shivering body for warmth. "What?"

Lightning moved behind her and sat between her and the wall, her legs stretched out on either side of Fang.

"Light, what are you doing?" The huntress was absolutely stunned.

"Just relax and lean back." She gently pulled on the other woman's shoulders to encourage her to lean back.

Fang didn't have the energy, or the words, to argue. Not that she exactly wanted to. She had the object of her infatuation sitting being her and asking her to lay back against her, what more could she ask for to make up for their missed moment previously. Fang settled back into Lightning, their forms melting perfectly together, and rested her head against her shoulder. When Lightning encircled arms around her waist she was yet again taken by surprise, but definitely not complaining. Warmth spread from Lightning's body to hers, completely enveloping her in it. After a few moments her shivering began to decline. She was right where she wanted to be, injured or not.

Lightning was a bit surprised herself, normally she would never have thought to do such a thing. She kept telling herself that this was necessary to keep Fang warm, which was true, but she could not deny that she wanted to do this despite the circumstances. Plus there was that near kiss that was still circling around her brain. There was definitely something about Fang that made her not care, and brought down her walls. She cared for the woman and with their time together wandering the depths of Pulse brought buried feelings to the surface. There was no one here to see or judge. She only wanted the Pulsian to be safe and well, and being able to wrap her in her arms was a definite plus. She looked down to the woman in her arms, her head leaning into Lightning's neck and smiled.

Fang's shivering had all but subsided aside from a tremble here and there. She definitely still had a temperature, but the added warmth would help break the fever.

"You smell good." Fang mumbled comfortably into Lightning's neck, eyes still closed.

Lightning raised an eyebrow. "Uh…thanks? I guess if the smell of sweat and grime is your thing…"

Fang chuckled softly. "No, it's not that. You Cocoon folks have a different scent. Maybe from all that Fal'Cie regulated, purified air crap you people were stuck with. But you smell particularly nice. Sweat, grime and all."

The soldier blushed, thankful that Fang couldn't see. "Thank you."

Lightning had to admit Fang smelled quite nice as well. Her scent was wild, like stepping into a vast forest and inhaling deeply. It was like Pulse, but completely her own.

"So what would you be doing right now? If this didn't happen." Lightning asked, deciding to carry on their previously conversation.

"Hmmm. Probably plotting a new way to tease you or to get you to cuddle like we are now." Fang grinned as she heard Lightning sigh in response. She could practically feel the soldier blush. "But in all seriousness I guess. Before the war and the 500 year nap? Well, if I wasn't helping out at the orphanage with Vanille, I suppose be out hunting or exploring."

"You two grew up at the orphanage?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah, we were both there from when we were very young. And even when we were old enough to leave we still stuck around to help out. Vanille was much better at it than I was. I was always a tad bit more interested in places outside Oerba, it was hard to keep me in one place." She sighed before continuing. "It's funny though. All this time has passed, I've been in stasis and traveled to Cocoon and back, and now all I want to do is see home again. "

"It's always nice to be someplace familiar…someplace you call home." Lightning hugged Fang tighter and rested her head on top of hers, burying her face in the think tumble of dark hair. "I've been looking for a place to call home ever since my parents died."

"Well, maybe when all this is over we can rebuild and call Oerba home. And do all the things we talked about earlier." Fang said.

"Reading, drinking and exploring?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah, and I can think of a few things we can explore." Fang replied suggestively. Lightning was baffled with the woman's endless stamina for inappropriate comments.

"Fang." She said as she lifted her head and looked down at the other woman.

"Yeah Sunshine?" She grinned as she looked up to meet the soldier's gaze.

"Shut up." Lightning leaned down and caught Fang's lips with her own.

After sharing what was a sensational and most anticipated kiss, the two women settled into each other's arms in triumph, before falling into an exhausted slumber.

Vanille and the rest of the l'cie had just departed from Atomos and finally reached the Sulvya Springs. They had spent hours searching for their two missing members and navigating through Mal'Habara before they arrived at the Fal'Cie and decided to press on to the Springs. Vanille was sure that Fang would surely find her way there with Lightning. Once she had convinced the group that moving on would be best, they hitched a ride on the tunneling Fal'Cie.

Everyone took a moment to taken in the breath taking change of scenery before Hope called out.

"Look! Over there!" He pointed off to one of the far rocky platforms. "Its…Lightning and Fang?"

Everyone's face soon matched the confusion in Hope's voice as their eyes settled on the dozing women wrapped up in each other's embrace.

_Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy! Finally finished this thing!_

_Thank you all who have supported this story with your favs and reviews, I hope that this does not disappoint. Once again, I apologize for the delay. I've been quite busy and I haven't had the time or motivation to work on this much until now._

_So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and the story as a whole ^^_


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